Jan. 8, 2008
The George Mason men's basketball team will hit the road on Wednesday night to take on Delaware in a battle for first place in the Colonial Athletic Association. Mason trails Delaware which is the CAA's only 3-0 team. The Patriots, however, are the only conference team with 10 overall wins. Mason is 13-5 all-time against Delaware including a 10-4 mark in CAA play. The Patriots have won the past five meetings dating back to a Jan. 12, 2005 81-78 overtime loss at Delaware.
The Patriots opened the season 6-1 but are just 4-3 since. Mason is also just 1-2 on the road this year. The Patriots have gotten balanced scoring for much of the year and they are one of just three CAA teams to have four players averaging in double figures. James Madison and UNC Wilmington are the other schools.
Will Thomas is the only player in the CAA in the top five in scoring and rebounding and he's also third in field-goal percentage. Thomas needs just three points to move into 16th place on the school's career points list.
Folarin Campbell needs 16 points, four rebounds and one block to become the first player in Mason history with 1,200 points, 400 rebounds, 300 assists, 100 3-pointers, 100 steals and 50 blocks. He needs five assists to tie Steve Smith for fifth on the career list and seven to tie John Niehoff for fourth in all-time assists.
John Vaughan is currently tied for ninth on the school's career 3-pointers list. He needs four more to become the ninth player in Mason history with 100 3-pointers. Dre Smith is tied for 14th all-time at Mason in career 3-pointers with 86. He is also third all-time at Mason in 3-point shooting percentage and fourth in 3-pointers per contest.
Delaware has one of the top point guards in the CAA in Brian Johnson, who is averaging 9.6 points, 5.6 assists and 3.2 rebounds per game. Herb Courtney leads the team in scoring at 13.3 points per game. Marc Egerson, who has started the past six games, is averaging 12.8 points and a team-high 6.8 rebounds. Alphonso Dawson is also averaging 10.4 points and 5.0 rebounds.
Wednesday's game will be televised on MASN with tip time slated for 7 p.m.
